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Just can’t seem to get ahead during the hectic holiday season? There are thoughtful options for picking up gifts today that won’t look like you waited until the last minute.
Here are five grab-and-go ideas courtesy of Star-Advertiser staff writer — and serial Christmas Eve shopper — Jason Genegabus.
1. One of my favorite places to shop anytime of year is Don Quijote near Ala Moana Center, which offers prices that are competitive with, if not better than, the big-box stores in the area. There’s always something quirky or unexpected on the shelves I didn’t know I needed until I saw it. That’s why it’s fun to create handpicked Christmas gift bags stuffed with affordable trinkets and goodies like Hawaii-style wooden drink coasters ($11.99), wall signs ($15.99) and rice paddles ($2.99), fun bottle koozies ($4.99) and treat-filled candy canes ($1.04). Holiday gift bags are available for as little as $1.99 to $2.99 each.
If it’s too humbug to fill the bag yourself, Don Quijote also sells gift baskets. Options start at $19.99 for NJoy’s “Santa’s Sleigh” filled with candy, while Wholesale Unlimited’s “Holly Berry” ($29.77) and “Holiday Wreath” ($45.77) versions are piled high with ono snacks such as cornflake cookies, crack seed and gummy bears.
For more discriminating tastes, try the “Meli Basket” ($23.44) from Hawaii’s Local Buzz, filled with products from Hawaii island’s Paradise Meadows Orchard and Bee Farm. It contains a sampling of Dark Chocolate Vanilla Coffee Bean Crunch, Milk Chocolate Caramel Mac Nut Bark, White Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Bun Mac Nuts, Vanilla Crunch Mac Nuts, Hawaii island honey, a dark-chocolate chip cookie and cinnamon shortbread.
The best part? Don Quijote at 801 Kaheka St. is open until 11 p.m. today. Call 973-4800.
2. It’s typically pretty easy to shop for alcohol drinkers, as many retailers step up their holiday options with gift sets for the beer, wine and cocktail crowd. But for something truly special that acknowledges the giftee’s refined tastes, get a bottle of Halekulani’s private-label Elijah Craig Bourbon, produced by Heaven Hill Brands.
Heaven Hill did a private bottling for Halekulani once before in the early 1950s, and a small amount of that distillate was included with 9-year-old bourbon sourced from a single barrel to commemorate the hotel’s 100th anniversary this year. Most of the 180 bottles produced are destined for Halekulani’s restaurants and bars, but a few are being set aside for purchase at the hotel gift shop, open til 9 p.m., at $115 per bottle. Call 923-2311.
3. Gift cards are the last resort of the last-minute shopper, but you can still look thoughtful giving them by choosing cards that match the giftee’s interests. Select cards for iTunes, Spotify or Google Play for music lovers, Netflix or Hulu for TV watchers, Xbox Live for gamers or Amazon Kindle for readers. A recent stop at 7-Eleven also turned up gift cards for movie tickets from Regal Entertainment Group, a subscription to World Wrestling Entertainment’s WWE Network, credit for popular online games League of Legends and World of Warcraft, and for Uber for late-night partiers and folks who don’t drive.
Hawaii 7-Eleven stores are open 24/7; a wide selection of gift cards also is available at Target, open until 11 p.m. today (Kailua store till 10 p.m.), and Walmart, open until 6 p.m. (Keeaumoku store till 7 p.m.).
4. Hawaiian-style means never showing up at a party empty-handed. The fine folks at Hawaiian Pie Co. recognize this and have been working hard this holiday season to turn out freshly baked pies ($20 to $25) daily at their Kalihi storefront. The majority of pies being baked this weekend are destined for preorders, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your hands on one of their delicious pumpkin custard, Hawaiian strawberry-guava, pear-peach, caramel apple or passion-pear pies today — you’ve just got to time it right.
When I stopped by recently to pick up a pie for a newsroom holiday party, an employee mentioned Hawaiian Pie Co. is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. Expect lines in the morning, but employees will keep the ovens going into the early afternoon to make sure pies are available until closing. Show up around 1 or 2 p.m. and there’s a good chance you’ll be able to pick up one of these can’t-miss desserts.
Hawaiian Pie Co. is at 508 Waiakamilo Road. Call 988-7828.
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